


Broken Legacy

by YangsRightArm



Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M, Fighting, Futuristic, Militia, Space Station, Think somewhat medieval but with more knowledge, War, high tech, it's really hard to make tags for an original work, some torture sequences
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-01-16 09:29:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18518647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YangsRightArm/pseuds/YangsRightArm
Summary: It had been 1044 years. Apollo Base had sustained human life in space for that long while the Earth had died out. The satellite had made sure that humanity continued on after it ruined its only planet with pollution, famine, overpopulation, and war. 1044 years in space, but now with signs of life on the ground, things are changing.Jason Payne has lived the last two years of his life not knowing whether his sister Alison survived after being exiled back to Earth for an apparent crime that she didn't really commit. With new signs of life being seen, and an exploration team being put together to explore these findings, he may finally get the answers he's been looking for after all.But the situation on Earth is not as it seems...





	1. Chapter 1

"On this day, we remember as a whole the sacrifices made to ensure that our kind would live on. We remember the bravery of our ancestors, venturing out into the unknown, in the hopes that this option was more viable than the wasteland we call Earth. We remember the original 200, our founders, and thank them for their bravery."   

The auditorium erupted into applause as the narration ended and each face flashed on the screen, detailing names and positions. Jason could not care any less. Every year, the entire population was forced to sit through a day of remembrance, honoring the poor bastards that gave up everything to live in a metal can in space. He aimlessly clapped through the slideshow, not really caring whose faces were up there. He had seen it twenty times before, each time the exact same recording, the same faces, and then the same boring speech from the Committee. Just thinking about how long he had already been sitting there and how much longer he would be made him itch. That, or the fact he was forced into wearing the mandatory uniforms because this was classified as a "formal event." The high collared jacket felt like it was strangling him. He just wanted to get out of there so he could get back to work repairing the outer shield on the B wing containment area. Instead, he was stuck inside the box again, waiting for the ever glorious Committee members to take the stage and the High Judge to begin the annual announcement.   

Maybe he shouldn't have been so harsh. His father was the High Committee Leader after all. Elected to the position before he was even born. All Jason could remember was his father being the outright leader of the base. Of course, luxuries came with that. He could have been in the lower committee just by birthright, but he didn't want the high life. He just wanted to be a mechanic, an engineer. He wanted to work with his hands, contribute to the physical aspects of Apollo Base. His father looked down upon his decisions, but it did not matter. In a little less than 2 months he would be turning twenty-one, meaning that he would be given his own living quarters and be tasked with starting a family. How could he think about family, though, when his own had been ripped apart? His mother had died over ten years ago, and his sister...   

He slumped forward in his seat, composing himself. It was hard enough losing his mother at such an early time. It was back during the virus outbreak. A controlled population culling. All they knew was that it claimed fifty-four lives. Once all fifty-four were quarantined and left to die, the virus died off. His mother had been one of them. All he could remember is watching his mother get dragged out of their unit by the outbreak team while she tried to comfort him and his sister. It was a hard time, but the two of them got through it together. That is, until two years ago...   

A few taps on the microphone cleared his head. His father was there, clearing his throat. Right before speaking, he made eye contact with his son.   

"Good afternoon all. Thank you for gathering once again for our moving ceremony." Applause. "Once again, we have survived another year on Apollo Base, marking the 1044th anniversary of the 200's journey." More applause. "Now, to more important business.   

"This year marks one of the most successful years in my time serving all of you. We gained forty-two new members into our ranks and have only lost twenty-seven." He paused for a moment, then continued. "Scientists have released their newest report, saying that our food supply is plentiful and nutritious. We shall have no problem with it for the next year. Maintenance has confirmed that the oxygen systems are in perfect order. Crime is down sixty percent from last year, and we had no offenders sent down to the wasteland."   

Jason stopped listening after that last point. How could he be so calm speaking about releasing criminals like that? He was the one who sent his only daughter down to the ground instead of pardoning her. How dare he have the nerve to speak in such a way. The anger made Jason's blood boil under his skin. If he hadn't been so patient with his father, he probably would have lunged out of the seat and made his way up to the stage to really tell his father what he was thinking. But he didn't. A few minutes of relaxation calmed him down, and he prepared himself for the closing remarks.   

"Now, before I close this ceremony, I have some more news to tell you about. I know most of you have started to nod off at this point and are just waiting for me to shut up and leave." Some laughter came from around the audience, but died out quickly.   

"As I said, there is some news to bring to your attention. Wonderful news, in my mind. I have just received a report today from our science department. According to reports from the original 200, they believed Earth may never become inhabitable again. Science department has been researching for years whether there is a process to reverse the effects that killed the Earth years ago. Apparently, their satellites began to pick up pictures of the ground just a few days ago."   

He stopped for a second and shuffled some papers.   

"The first pictures that came through showed some vegetation on the ground. Not just any vegetation, but trees. More trees in areas that did not have trees when the 200 left the ground. Trees producing oxygen, meaning the ground may have breathable air on it. But that was not all. Late last night, more pictures came in. These pictures not only detailed vegetation, but also farms. Organized, parallel farms, surrounded by what looks like fences. Along with these farms, there appeared to be some form of encampment nearby. What really shocked us, though, was the appearance of smoke from the center of the encampment, from what we presume to be fire. A small, contained fire that does not look naturally occurring. A fire that appears to have been started by someone."   

The entire auditorium broke out into whispers and murmurs. How could anything be living down there? Everyone was taught what a wasteland the Earth was and how it may never be salvaged. Was everything a lie?   

While others whispered among themselves, Jason could not begin to form words. If people were alive down there that would mean that...she could still be alive. No, she was. He knew it, somehow. His father knew too, as he watched his son in the audience think about the implications. A few microphone taps later, he began to speak again.   

"Now, do not get too excited yet. We do not know what kind of world is down there. It is most certainly not the world the original 200 left. Our plan is to study what this new world has to offer and hope to form an exploratory team to go down to the surface and explore the area to see if it is truly safe for us to venture down there. Until then, do not get your hopes up. For all we know, the organisms down there could be too hostile for us to survive there. Now, as we always end, we look to the future to find our path and hope for a brighter tomorrow. Please return to your normal schedule upon leaving. You are all dismissed."   

The auditorium rose and applauded. Jason went through the motions, as always, but the implications were far greater than ever before. As people began shuffling out of the back exits, he hopped over several rows of seats up to the stage. The security let him pass right through, knowing exactly who he was. He knew where to look too, heading down the hallway to the very end and throwing the doors open.   

His father was standing there, already with drink in hand, staring out of the floor to ceiling window that looked out onto the Earth. Taking a long, slow sip from his glass, he turned, knowing why Jason was already there.  

“Don’t say a word, the answer is no,” he said as he walked past his son into the kitchen area. “It’s too dangerous.”  

“Dangerous? You do remember what I do as a job up here, right? Let me do this Dad, you trust me enough right? It’s nice to know you have someone you can trust down there to help feed you accurate information.”  

“I know, but not you. I said it’s too dangerous. We have no clue what’s down there or what to expect. We could be entirely wrong for all we know and just captured some ruins from the old days. We need to take this slow and cautiously.” He put his glass down on the counter and leaned against the edge, crossing his arms.  

“You were never one to take things slowly, why change now? The faster we figure out what is down there, the faster we can resettle the population.”  

“You’re not qualified.”  

“Anyone can sign up. I have time to learn what I need, and then I can be on that ship. You know I can learn that quickly, just give me-“  

His father slammed his fist down on the counter.   

“No. I said, no. I have absolutely no clue what is down there, and I am not sending one of my own children into it. I’ve already lost one child, I can’t lose both.”  

Jason felt his fists clench. His blood pressure rose rapidly; he could feel his heartbeat throughout his body. “It was your choice to let go of one child. Don’t make it seem like it was her own fault. You know very well you were to blame for that.” He turned, not even stopping to listen to his father’s reply before storming out. 

~~ 

Jason was out of there quickly and back in the airlock before he knew it. He didn't really care what his father had said, but something was still eating away at him. Was she really down there? He stuffed his belongings in his locker and slammed the door shut, shaking his head to try and clear his thoughts as he headed towards the airlock. Suit equipped, toolkit hooked onto his belt, and oxygen line secured, he signaled control and the doors opened. 

Part of the fix team was already out there working. Slowly he made his way along the hull to the shield. A small asteroid had hit it and cracked a sensor, but the crack wasn’t picked up until it had spread over seventy percent of the shield. It was a large task, so a crew of ten had been dispatched to go fix it. Several of them were over on the far side, so Jason clamped himself on the nearside and began drilling out the old shield.  

“Ah, look who finally made it out here,” Jason heard over the radio. The unofficial team leader, Ryan, always smacked talked him. It was all playful, of course.  

“Sorry Ry, you know how daddy issues go,” he sniped back while starting to weld the new sensor into place.  

“Ouch, someone’s still sore,” Gomez chirped in.  

“Hey J, you apply for that ground crew job?” Katie called out. She was one of the few female external engineers.  

“...No. I'm still not sure. Something's holding me back.”  

“Sounds like someone is letting words get to their head,” Ryan quipped.  

Jason shook his head and continued working. “He doesn’t want me to, but he’s not going to see the results until we’re about ready to leave. Even if I make it on the crew.”  

“They said they were looking to take twenty people down, maybe more, and they wanted a good portion of engineers and scientists as well as some security forces. Who knows what’ll be down there waiting,” Gomez said. He then tried to spook Katie, who jumped slightly, not knowing who came up behind her.  

“Knock it off you two. Not out here. I don’t feel like pulling an emergency rescue trying to catch one of you as you float away into space.”  

Wouldn’t be the first time, Ryan, Jason thought. It was only a minor problem once. Gomez’s clamp didn’t hook correctly and he got pushed off by accident. He was close enough that Ryan was able to reach out and grab him before it was too late.  

“You know, I don’t even have the slightest bit of motivation to go down there. What’ll happen when they do get down there? Explore a bit? Send data back? Has the research team thought of long term? I mean, how long will that ground crew be down there before anyone else comes down? If anyone else goes down.”  

“What do you mean, Gomez? You want to live in this tin can for the rest of your life?” Ryan knocked on the hull.  

“All I’m saying is that the Earth better be one hundred percent livable for me to go down there.”  

The crew finished their tasks as the alarms for midday break began to go off on their comms and started the journey back inside. Once the airlock was pressurized, they began to strip off their equipment and grab the rest of their belongings from the lockers. Once inside the main center, the crew split off into different directions. Jason made his way to the cafeteria, picking up his lunch rations and finding a table to sit at. As began eating, a few friends came in and joined him. Jess was there, of course, along with Asher and Derek. 

“Hey Jason, you sign up yet?” Derek’s directness surprised Jason. Usually a hello or what’s up started off the conversation, but today had more pressing matters. 

“No. I mean, not yet. I'm not sure.” Jason took a sip of water and looked around at the three. "How about you guys?" 

"I'm heading over after shift," Jess replied, leaning back in her seat. She smiled at him. Jessica had been a friend of the family for a while. She and Ali were practically sisters. They always seemed to be together wherever they went. They were both part of the internal engineering program, whereas Jason was on the external. Two of the youngest engineers to ever be allowed in a working environment, not just in the classroom. They even looked like sisters, except for Jess’s blonde hair. She reminded him so much of his sister. He had barely seen her since the incident, and he preferred it that way. It wasn’t like he hated her, it was just almost painful to see his sister in her.  

Asher and Derek nodded as well. “Why pass up the chance at something this big?” Asher asked, chewing on a bit of bread. “I mean, come on. These will be the first humans to official repopulate the Earth in over 200 years.” 

“That is, if the reports of a camp are false. If they’re true, think of the possibilities. Either criminals were able to survive down there, or humans never really died out,” Derek butted in. 

“They’re not all criminals,” Jason mumbled as he took a spoonful of soup. 

“Hey, sorry man. We were all surprised by that, remember?” Asher tried consoling him. 

“Let’s just drop it and move on to something else. What are all you guys working on now?” 

“Internal’s a mess since that sensor cracked. B wing can’t pick up any external data so we’re trying to divert signals over to A and C wings,” Jess started. 

“It’s pretty bad out there too. We’re working as fast as we can to replace those panels, but each one’s screwed in individually. We figure that about one hundred panels are compromised. It may take weeks to replace them. We can’t carry that many replacements in one trip. Each one of us can carry two, maybe three if we leave some tools behind,” Jason continued. “If they had picked up the crack a little sooner we wouldn’t be in this much trouble.” 

“Hey, don’t blame this on us. The computer only picked up a slight anomaly when the asteroid probably hit us. We just thought it was a flare or something. Wasn’t until the crack spread and the data was off the charts that we realized how bad it was.” Asher worked with his dad in the special analysis department. They were the ones who ran most of the computers collecting internal and external data. He had only been in the department for about 6 months. 

“Well, agriculture is thriving, unlike the rest of you,” Derek quipped. “Like your dad said Jason, we’re having a record year.” 

“Yeah, yeah, shut it Derek,” he replied. “Not all of us have an easy job.” 

“Hey, it may be easy, but it sure is dirty.” 

“That’s not the only part that’s dirty,” Asher said while nudging his arm. 

“Really you two? Those kinds of jokes now?” Jess shook her head. 

Jason rolled his eyes and finished eating what was left of his lunch. He stood up to leave. “Maybe you guys should be on the ground team. Sounds like you need some fresh air to clear those heads.” 

~~ 

After the end of his shift, Jason decided he would go take a walk around the base instead of heading home. He couldn’t stand to be near that place. He could understand his father’s worry, but why now? Why hadn’t he worried about sending his daughter to most certainly her death? Of course, Jason knew that there was now the possibility that she could still be alive somewhere down there. He knew that she was still alive. There was no possibility of her giving up if she was given the chance. He had to get down there somehow…  

“Oof! Watch where you’re- Oh, hey Jason.”  

“Jess, hey. What are you doing here? Where’s this line going to?”  

“Uh, ground applications? Did you finally decide to sign up?" 

Jason looked at the line in front of him. A man sat at the desk up front with a terminal in front of him. "Uh, no. Still undecided." 

Jess stepped out of line, letting the few people that had lined up behind them go in front. "What is holding you back? Is it your dad?" 

"I'm not sure still. I know he's worried, but I don't care what he thinks. He doesn't have any input after, you know-" 

"Yeah. That's the reason I'm going down there. And I'm pretty sure it's the reason you want to go down too." 

Jason nodded. He hadn't thought about Jess's motives, but they made sense. She was just as close with Ali as he had been. "I won't let him stop me though." 

"And he can't. There's a separate group being formed to review the candidates. The Committees won't know until final selections are made. They'll review everything: records, marks in class, jobs performed, the whole works. Then they send the list off to the training department. Complete secrecy." 

Jason thought for a moment while Jess got back in line. 

"You better make up your mind soon though. Don't let what he said stop you." 

He watched as she got to the front and spoke with the man at the desk. She scanned her ID card and fingerprint, then stepped off to the side. Before leaving, she looked back at Jason and nodded, then walked down the other end of the hall. 

The line took only a few minutes to move. A quick simple process to register, just scanning the ID card and fingerprints, then confirming occupation and registration was complete. He was ready to go down to Earth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here is the start! Please let me know what you think, comments (and critiques) are much appreciated!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is not beta'd, so any mistakes are mine. Wanted to get this out now because it's been forever since I posted!

The grey room was a common sight to those on board Apollo Base. All of them were interviewed in this room to decide on their career paths and future living quarters. Jason himself had been in here a few months ago, finalizing his housing interview, but here he sat again, this time for a very different reason. The table in front of him was blank now. No housing plans or layouts covered the shiny metal surface. All he could see was his reflection staring back up at him. 

 

He was both nervous and excited to be in here. There were several rumors going around that most of the applications for the ground crew were being turned down for personal reasons. At the same time, only about half of the applications were called back for interviews, which gave him a glimmer of hope. 

 

After a few minutes of waiting, the door opened. He recognized Committee Member Sanders coming through the open door with papers in hand. She closed and locked the door behind her and sat down across the table from him. 

 

“Hello Jason, good to see you again,” she said, smiling as she opened the file folder with his name and picture on it. “Let me ask, off the record, does your father know you applied?” 

 

“Not at all, ma’am, and he won’t,” he replied, sliding his chair in closer to the table. 

 

“Alright, let’s begin then. Can you please state your name and identification number for confirmation of this interview? 

 

“Jason Payne, ID number 671851162,” he stated, remembering the number he had been taught since he was young. 

 

“Okay. Now, state your current occupation aboard Apollo Base.” 

 

“Current occupation is an external engineer, part of the hull team.” 

 

“Good. Now, a little background. How old are you?” 

 

“Twenty ma’am. Turning twenty-one in about a month and a half.” 

 

“What family do you currently have on Apollo Base?” 

 

Without hesitation, he answered, “my father and my…sorry, just my father.” 

 

“Any other family that has lived on Apollo Base within the last fifteen years?” 

 

“My mother died in the virus outbreak about twelve years ago. My sister…was sent to Earth for the crime of conspiracy.” 

 

He wanted to avoid that question at all costs. He didn’t want to dwell on the past, but he knew it would come… 

 

 _"We need to talk. Now."_  

 

 _“What now?” Jason groaned, hoping to_ _just relax for a bit before heading to bed. He didn’t know how Ali still had energy after work, but she still was in her first year on the job, so maybe she hadn’t hit the hard work yet._  

 

 _“Yes now. This can’t wait. We don’t have much time.”_  

 

 _“What are you going on about?” Jason lifted his head from where it was laid against the back of the couch, looking over to where his sister was sitting in the chair opposite him._  

 

 _“It’s about Mom.”_  

 

 _“What?” He sat up more fully this time, looking over at her. “What do you mean?”_  

 

 _“Her illness, ten years ago? Wasn’t a random event.”_  

 

 _“What the hell are you talking about?”_  

 

 _Ali huffed, leaning forward. “I was in the ducts near med bay today. Overheard two people talking about destroying records, and how they were disposing of a ‘population control event’ from ten years ago.” She air quoted for emphasis, clasping her hands together afterwards._  

 

 _“Wait, what does that mean?” Jason leaned forward even more, placing his bottle down on the table._  

 

 _“It_ means _that Mom getting sick and disappearing wasn’t some random event. And it also means that Dad may know something that he isn’t telling us.”_  

 

 _“But he made the statement at the annual remembrance that year. It had been some freak event-”_  

 

 _“He_ lied _Jason. He knows something about it and_ _isn’t telling anyone.”_  

 

 _“So, this was done by the Committees?”_  

 

 _“Apparently. Apparently they need to control the population-”_  

 

 _“Which we already know is the case. Remember the Family 4 ruling.”_  

 

 _“Right,” Ali nodded, her brother alluding to the law enacted in 2384 that said that families were only permitted to have two children except in the case of multiples. “But apparently they’re not above killing citizens either.”_  

 

 _“Whoa, hold on there. You can’t just jump to accusing them of murder.” Jason stood up, pacing behind the couch. “We need to talk to Dad about this.”_  

 

 _“We do. But we won’t see him until after work tomorrow.”_  

 

 _“Have you told anyone yet? Jess? Asher or Derek?”_  

 

 _“None. Haven’t seen the guys but I didn’t say a word to Jess. You and I are the only two to know this right now.”_  

 

 _“Keep it that way.” Jason stopped and picked up his bottle. “We can talk with Dad tomorrow. He has to know something.”_  

 

 _“Alright…Hey, you don’t think he made the decision to-”_  

 

 _“Don’t worry about it._ ” 

 

“Jason?” 

 

Jason snapped out of his daydream, seeing Member Sanders eyeing him nervously. The conversation from two years ago still echoed in his head as he swallowed. 

 

“Um…sorry, ma’am, I seemed to have missed the question. Can you repeat it?” 

 

“I said, do you have any marks on your record that may prevent you from joining the ground team?” 

 

“Uh, no. None that I am aware of.” 

 

She shuffled through the papers again, reading over his file. 

 

“Now, this is probably one of the more serious questions you will have to answer today. Is there any personal reason that is pushing you to try and get to the ground?” 

 

He paused. The rumors were telling him to lie and say he wanted to help the human race survive, but his conscience couldn’t do that. 

 

“To be honest, ma’am, partially. I just said my sister is on the ground, wrongfully in my belief. She shouldn’t have to be down there alone. I not only want to help make this trip successful, but also find out if she really is alive still, because deep down inside me, I know she’s still fighting, and she needs someone alongside her.” 

 

Member Sanders sat back for a moment, making eye contact. “I see. You’re free to go, Jason, and you will be hearing from us soon.” 

 

He stood up. It took all he had in him to stand still and not start shaking. Slowly, he exited the room. Once down a small corridor, he leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor. 

 

What had he just done? Had he just condemned his only chance to see his sister again? How else would he get to the ground? He wasn’t going to commit a crime, there was no way he could. But how? 

 

He sat with his head in his hands for quite some time. He couldn’t bring himself to go home, or to even go to work. All he could do was sit and think. 

 

~~ 

 

Much later, David Payne was sitting on his couch, flipping through stacks of paperwork. It was review time, and most of these paper would be sent to the incinerator after they were checked over to see if the information was still in the system. He heard the front door open and looked up to see his son slowly walk in and close the door behind him. 

 

"Long day?" David asked, cocking an eyebrow. 

 

"I just want to head to bed." 

 

With that, he watched Jason walk to his bedroom door and enter, the door closing and locking behind him. 

 

David leaned back, closing his eyes and running his hands down his face. The conversation from the previous day rang through his head. He knew the truth. It was his fault that his only daughter was sent to the ground. What other choice did he have? The Committee was being investigated by a small sub-committee for favoring the elite above the population. Alison had done the right thing, just at the wrong time. If he had only imprisoned her, there would have been riots. Chaos would consume the base and humanity would most certainly be lost. Or would it?  

 

David put his papers to the side and stood up. He walked over towards the window, pointing out into space towards the blue planet. Had he isolated his son from himself? He wanted to protect Jason. After all, he was the only piece left of the now broken family. Tension had been high ever since Alison had been sent to the ground, and now that they were about to send other to the ground, could he be losing his son too? 

 

He looked back to his window, staring out again at the planet. Could it be? Were there really things living down there? Could… _she_  be down there?  

 

~~ 

 

 _“Dad, you need to stop this! You can’t send her down there!”_  

 

 _“Jason, there’s nothing I can do about this. My hands are tied.”_  

 

 _“No! She wasn’t planning to do anything with the information, I know it. She would never do anything to endanger the base.”_  

 

 _“The threat was there though. And it originated from knowledge that she was unauthorized to have.”_  

 

 _“That she ha_ d on accident _._ _You can just lock her up here though! Don’t send her to Earth!”_  

 

 _His father turned quickly. “Jason! Do you know what we’re going through right now? The entire Committee is under investigation because it is believed that we favor the elites on this base more than the regular people. If it was at any other time, I would just lock her up. But I can’t. Don’t you see? I have no other choice.”_  

 

 _“Yes you do. People know that it’s a class 2 crime if there are no physical plans present. Imprisonment is good enough. It’s almost as if you want to send her away.”_  

 

 _“You think that I want to send my only daughter down onto a planet that is sure to kill her? You think I take any pleasure in that? I’ve already requested that someone else press that button tomorrow, but we can’t break procedure.”_  

 

 _“Liar!”_  

 

 _Jason couldn’t hear his response. He was already running out of the room, through the corridors, running to who knows where, just to get away from him-_  

 

Jason awoke with a gasp. Panting and sweating profusely, he sat up. After he had heard his father go to bed, he left to talk another walk to clear his head and ended up sneaking off into a smaller corridor.  He must have fallen asleep while sitting in the hallway. What time was it even? It didn’t matter. It seemed that it was second or third shift since there was a prominent lack of personnel around. He slowly got up and peeked out into the main hallway. No one. 

 

Carefully, he made his way back to the compound. Slipping in as quietly as he could, he made his way straight for the bathroom to wash his face. Some cool water had to help, right? 

 

He went into his bedroom and sat down, staring at the empty bed next to him. It had been like that for two years, why hadn’t he gotten used to it? Or had he? This was the first night in as long as he could remember that he thought about that bed. Was she just as comfortable down on Earth? 

 

He stood, walking into the common area, standing in front of the window like his father had done almost every day since the news broke about Earth. It seemed so peaceful down there. It was definitely greener than the pictures depicted it after the mass space exodus of the original 200. Were those the trees talked about? He had only seen pictures of them, but had never seen one in person. Maybe he would eventually touch one… 

 

“Can’t sleep?” 

 

He turned, recognizing the voice of his father behind him. 

 

“I guess so.” 

 

He walked up, joining his son at the window. 

 

“I know why you’re here. You’re thinking the same thing I have been for the past two years.” 

 

Jason didn’t respond. He was too tired to get angry at his father. “I signed up. For the ground crew. Unlike you, I’m actually going to see if she is still out there.” 

 

He sighed. “I knew you would.” 

 

Jason turned to him. “Why try to stop me then?” 

 

“It’s always a feeble attempt. You are both so much like your mother. Strong-willed. Once you get an idea in your head, nothing will put you off from accomplishing it. I knew from the moment you walked in you would find some way to apply to be on that team. Even more so when you found out that we have no say in the matter of who gets on or not.” 

 

“Jess told me that. Made it easier for me.” 

 

“I know. I just…it kills me to see both of you down there.” He walked away before Jason could respond.  

 

He couldn’t stand there anymore. There was no way he could sleep now, but he had to try. 

 

 


End file.
